


Laughter

by gosuckalemon



Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/F, Homophobia, Mild Blood, Rule 63, first draft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-19 13:41:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gosuckalemon/pseuds/gosuckalemon
Summary: Edie goes out on a limb, declaring her feelings for Sally Jupiter, and she doesn't get the reaction she's been expecting.





	Laughter

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this about six months ago and never posted it, since it was meant to be part of a longer work which never eventuated. As is tradition, this sucks and I will probably come back to edit it in another six months.

_It’s now or never, Edie,_ she tells herself. It’s been too long already and she doesn’t know how much longer this Minutemen thing’s going to last. Sally Jupiter might be miles out of Edie’s league, and Edie’s still not sure if Sally’s... _like her._ But it’s now or never, and the way the pretty redhead smiles at her that night just cinches the deal. To an outside observer, it’s plain to see she smiles at everyone like that, and that it’s done more for the camera than anyone in her presence. Edie doesn’t give it a second thought, because that smile has to be for her, it just has to be.

Edie’s no coward, not by a long shot, but this is more terrifying than facing off with any enemy, more daunting than striking off on her own, applying to join the team or anything else she’s done in her short life. She’s been trying to work up the courage for weeks, leaving meeting after meeting with nothing to show for herself. Not tonight. Not again. Sally goes off to change, and Edie follows, heart thumping in her chest and sweat beading on her forehead, leaving the men behind.

She watches Sally shed her elegant black gloves and slip out of her short, tight yellow dress. Her eyes widen as the older woman moves on to unlacing and removing her corset--and even without it she’s still got the most incredible figure, buxom and curvy but slender, with just enough muscle to pass for a fighter.

Edie’s still in full costume, her mouth dry and her chest tight, admiring the other woman’s hourglass shape and flawless pale skin. Sally remains oblivious, focused only on herself with the occasional idle gossip in Edie’s direction. Maybe it doesn’t even occur to her that a woman could ogle another woman. Now Edie’s almost sure that she has no chance and that nothing good can possibly come of this, but damn it, she just can’t hold her tongue any longer. Scrambling to untie it, something resembling a proposition comes out of her mouth. At first, the redhead just stares at her, and she wonders if what she’s said might have been completely incoherent.

And then Sally bursts into laughter. Peals of it, a vulgar, barbed sound echoing around the room, and it’s like she’s just heard the funniest goddamn joke in the world. Edie might be the Comedian, but she has to admit it’s not the reaction she was hoping for.

Edie’s been playing this out in her head over the past few weeks, the same scenes rolling over and over. Of all the negative reactions that she could get, _laughter_ never occurred to her, and now she wonders why, because it seems so obvious. Now she feels like the biggest asshole in the world as the older woman stands there mocking her. Sally is still laughing hysterically when she rattles off a string of derogatory nicknames for women of Edie’s persuasion. Humiliation turns to rage in a heartbeat.

Evenly matched, they are not. They’re both women, both young, about the same height, but Sally’s built like the burlesque dancer she is, and all her fights are carefully choreographed in keeping with her profession. Edie, by comparison, is a seasoned scrapper, with thick muscle rounding out her stout 5’9” frame. She’s been brawling longer than she can remember, and she’s more capable than any of the men on this team except maybe Hooded Justice, easily taking down crooks twice her size. She hesitates. It’s unfair for a woman like her to hit a woman like Sally Jupiter, isn’t it? Then again, life isn’t fair, and nobody knows that better than Edith Morgan Blake.

The punch is thrown, Sally’s perfect nose turning broken and bloody. She retaliates with faltering blows, her nails doing more damage than her fists before Edie punches her in the stomach and has her on the ground. The deep scratches are going to sting for a while after this is over, and Edie may not be pretty but she’s always considered herself good looking in a strong featured and vaguely swarthy way, so she's not happy about this. She unbuckles her belt (the laughing face mirroring Sally’s a few moments ago, though she’s in tears now) and roughly jerks the other woman’s panties down over her fishnets. She has no idea how this is going to work--she only knows that she needs to do as much damage as possible, revenge for the laughter, for the slurs and cuts on her face.

Then Hooded Justice is looming in the doorway, and Edie taunts him, sure that he won’t hit a girl. She’s wrong, and she leaves the back room with her own nose bloodied and her face bruised, walking home with her tail between her legs.


End file.
